Julie Garwood, Shadow Dance

Shadow Dance

Julie Garwood

Ballantine, Jan 2007, $25.95

ISBN: 0345453860

At the wedding of her brother Dylan Buchanan to Kate McKenna, Jordon is goaded into traveling to Serenity, Texas, by Noah Clayborne, who teases her that she never acts on a spontaneous notion. At the nuptials, Jordon meets Professor Horace McKenna, who talked about a Buchanan-McKenna feud with his supporting research in his home in Serenity. He promises to provide her a copy if she visits him there.

When she arrives, her car breaks down. After getting it fixed, she goes to pick up her copy of the professor's findings, but instead finds Horace's corpse in a garage bag in her car's trunk. The sheriff's brother slaps her and the police chief breaks all the rights of a suspect by not only trying to intimidate, but taking away all her entitlements under the law except one phone call, which she makes to Dylan. He and the posse arrive to get her freed and the chief fired. They go to question the mechanic, but he is dead found in the trunk of her new car. However, thanks to the illegal actions of law enforcement a newly appointed police chief believes in her innocence. Jordan and Noah explore their feelings for one another while another death takes place and the professor's house burns to the ground. Jordan and Noah realize they love each other as they search for a killer before the culprit finishes them off.

SHADOW DANCE contains a magical romance starring two individuals from Julie Garwood's previous books. Myriad numbers of fans have been waiting to read their story. If the author just provided a tale based on their romance that would be a winner. However, instead the audience obtains a great love story amidst a tense suspense thriller that keeps readers wondering if the long-awaited match-up between Noah and Jourdon will end tragically. This is great work from a grandmaster at the top of her game.

Harriet Klausner